19/09/2026
Volvo Autumn Regatta 2026
A record fleet of 113 boats signed on for Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club's Volvo Autumn Regatta, the first major event of the Club's 2026-2027 sailing calendar. Sailors were greeted by near-perfect autumn sailing conditions, with clear blue skies and an easterly breeze of 6 to 8kts providing an outstanding start to the season.
Autumn Regatta is traditionally a two-day event with three races, open to all of Hong Kong's keelboat sailors. The regatta attracted nearly 600 competitors across seven one-design classes, Sportsboats and Big Boats. Due to the State Funeral arrangements for The Honourable Tung Chee Hwa, the first Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and as a mark of respect, the regatta was reduced to a single day of racing, with the first warning signal brought forward by one hour.
Race Officer Barry Truhol opted for a start line off Hung Hom, with the Division 0 Big Boats getting racing underway at 1245hrs, followed by the remaining Big Boat divisions, Sportsboats and one-design fleets. In all, 29 Big Boats competed across four divisions. The largest fleet on the start line, as usual, was the Etchells class with 16 boats, while the Flying Fifteen, J/80 and J/70 classes were also strongly represented with 14 boats joining.
Among the competitors were 19 sailors from the Royal Perth Yacht Club, who travelled from Western Australia to enjoy the Club's hospitality and compete in the Volvo Autumn Regatta aboard the Big Boats Rampage 28, MNOG One and Manbude.
Mark Dymond and Simon Cosoli from Royal Perth Yacht Club praised the experience, saying: “From what we've seen so far, it's a fantastic and vibrant sailing community. There is an impressive variety of boats on the water, and the atmosphere is incredibly lively. It's been a wonderful experience. As for the racing, we'll soon find out how different it is, but I suspect it will be much the same. Sailors are sailors wherever you go in the world, and that shared passion makes the sport feel very familiar no matter where you are.”
All classes were scheduled to complete two races in Victoria Harbour. The race courses ranged from 3.16 to 6.86nm, with the Big Boats sailing between 1.5 and 2 laps on courses stretching between Shau Kei Wan and Hung Hom. The one-design fleets completed courses between Shau Kei Wan and Tai Koo Shing. As the day progressed, the wind built up to 10kts, gusting up to 12kts. Under brilliant blue skies, colourful spinnakers filled the harbour as the fleet raced downwind through Hong Kong's iconic waterfront, showcasing the city's vibrant sailing scene at its very best.
Reflecting on the day's racing, a delighted Race Officer Barry Truhol said: " Today was an abbreviated Autumn Regatta and it was a bit late to get two races in. So we made the courses to be about the first race an hour and a half for the faster boats, down to an hour for the slower ones. and then rotated them through as quickly as possible to get a second race in. The wind stayed in between 8 to 10 kts, occasionally 12 kts all day. It was a great day and I hope people are happy.”
After a great day of racing with two races, in Big Boat Division 1 Noel Chan’s Rampage 38 came out on top in Division 0 while Nick Southward’s Admiralty Harbour Whiskey Jack and Steven Wu’s Borocay - Jelik5 and Anthony/Michael/Raymond/Andy ‘s Triple A took first place overall in their respective Big Boat Divisions Div 1 to 3.
In the one design classes and Sportsboats, the Etchells coming out on top was Madness. As for the rest: Dragon — Phyloong II; Flying Fifteen — Mana; Impala — Gnu; J/80 & J/70 — Jelignite; Pandora — Windfall; Ruffian — Scallywag; and Sportsboat — Phoenix all picked up the silverware in their classes.
